Rotary scratch-brush



(No Model.) I i D. W. DOLAN ROTARY SCRATGH BRUSH.

No. 557,562. Patented Apr. '7, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DENNIS IV. DOLAN, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

ROTARY SCRATCH-BRUSH.

SPECIFICATEON forming part of Letters Patent No. 557 ,562, dated April 7, 1896.

l Application filed December 22, 1892. Serial No. 456,014. (No model.)

To all whom. it may concer-n:

Be it known that I, DENNIS W. DoLAN, of IIartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and=useful Improvements in Rotary Scratch- Brushes, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description, whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.

The object of my invention is to provide a wire brush, such as are used for cleaning castings and like work, my improved brush being so constructed as to enable wire of different degrees of hardness to be used, as bristle, and also so constructed as to render the brush extremely durable, while capable of brushing a surface with any degree of force desired.

To this end my invention consists in the details of the several parts making up the brush as a whole and in the combination of such parts, as more particularly hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a detail edge view of a rotary brush embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is a detail side View of the brush on reduced scale. Fig. 3 is a detail view of a portion of the heads and partly in section of a pivot, showing a modified form of the invention.

In brushes of this class it is necessary to make the wires of hardened metal in order to have them normally project in radial lines from the hub, and in order to allow the wires a free longitudinal movement upon Aand of the pivots to a certain extent, I have provided means whereby the wires are loosely secured to their immediate support. This construction avoids the breaking of the wires, an objection which would be present in a device where the wires are securely clamped to their support and have no longitudinal movement thereof. Vhere the strands or wires have been of soft metal, as is necessary in doing lighter kinds of Work that requires skill and care in the use of the brush in order to avoid cutting off projecting parts on the casting or wearing off a cornerordefacing a surface, the wires become bent back upon themselves and practically wound around the hub. Such brushes are soon worn out or become useless.

In my improved brush each strand is pivoted or hinged to the hub in such manner that it whips out and projects on radial lines'by the centrifugal action as the brush is revolved with the spindle or shaft that it is fastened to.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter a 5 5 denotes the hub of the brush that is adapted to be secured to a spindle b'by any convenient means, as by thrusting the spindle through an opening in the hub. This hub is preferably composed of two plates c CZ, to one 6o of which, as d, a number of pins e are secured around the periphery. The head c is preferably removably attached to the opposite ends of the pins in such manner as to permit its ready removal. Any desired number of wires f are attached to the pivots e, the number, of

course, being limited so that the wires shall not be bound between the plates c d, but mayhave the necessary longitudinal movement on the pivots. In order to thus loosely secure the 7o wires to the pivot, it is necessary that each wire shall encircle the pivot, and in order to provide this means of attachment l cross the ends of each wire in front of the pivot and give them one or more turns around each 7 5 other, taking care, however, that the opening through which the pivot passes shall be large enough to allow of a free longitudinal movement thereon of the wire. lV hen thus hinged or pivoted to the hub, each wire or bristle f 8o swings freely laterally and also in the direction in which the brush is turning, so that the scraping blow delivered by the end of the brush is a yielding one, depending for its yielding action, however, not upon any spring action or softness of the wire but on the manner of its attachment to the hub. This yielding of the wire or bristle does not put any stress or strain or undue wear upon the wire that may therefore be made of any desired 9o material determined by the character of the work to be performed by the brush. If a particularly coarse casting is to be cleaned the wires may be made of hardened steel and the surface of the casting thoroughly scratched and cleaned. If, on the other hand, a somewhat soft casting is to be cleaned, a finer wire of soft metal may be used, and the touch of the brush ends will then be soft enough to prevent any injury whatever being done to roo the surface, to corners or projections of the casting. j

In order to prevent the undue wear of the pivot-pin, l prefer to secure the wires to a bushing C, that is mounted on the pin so as to turn freely thereon, the Wires being attached to the bushing.

I claim as my inventionn y 1. In a Wire brush in combination with a hub, pivots extending across the periphery of the hub, and Wires secured to the pivots by passing the same around each pivot and crossing and twisting the ends about each other, the opening thus formed being larger in diameter than the pivot, whereby a free longitudinal movement thereon of the Wire is obtained, all substantially as described.

2. In a wire brush in combination with a hub, pins extending across the periphery of the hub, bushings arranged on the pins, and Wires or bristles attached to the bushings and adapted to project radially from the hub when 

